Vengeance Is Mine

The person with the better weapon and the element of surprise, gets to tell the truth. Because they have the power, and the truth hurts like a broken bone. In the underworld of London, only the possibility of revenge and the telling of such truths stir an impoverished loner named Harry. It likewise motivates his intended target. In a brutal spree, Harry struggles to gain the upper hand over his adversary. In this insightful, vicious and unconventional tale, there are surprising twists and turns. Harry learns some uncommon and profound good sense. Capable acting, an enthralling story and intriguing sights and sounds, kept me at the edge of my seat.

A fantastic revenge thriller that uses literally every penny of its micro budget perfectly, as throughout this looks visually as well put together as any other multi million dollar Hollywood production. The way it unravels is nothing other than completely gripping as it is a fine example of pure unencumbered story telling that shows the audience the unfolding evens a lot more than it tells them. Performance wise its top of the line, with Con O'Neill giving one of the most timid, yet still perfectly relatable killer performances, but is the smart direction that sets itself apart as it's faultlessly sharp and immensely effective. A gritty must see that is high brow genre movie.

Harry is a loner and, to anyone who would perceive him, a total and utter failure on the bottom rung on society. Living and working in a church as a handyman and cleaner, he occupies his time by reading The Count of Monte Cristo and contemplating suicide in all sort of gruesome ways, throw in visions of his wife an daughter runner in a getaway car by some vicious thieves, you have man at the lowest ebb of his life. Then a private detective he hired brings him news that shakes him from his life ending low. He has been so badly wronged in the past that his life derailed that this is light at tend of the tunnel. The authors of his downfall have now been found. He makes a decision to seek vengeance.

This means having to buy a gun and ammunition, stalking the killers and attacking them although he is completely untrained and totally out of shape an entering a world he does not belong in. Once in this world he sets in motion a chain of events that will build up its own momentum, essentially driven by vengeance, lost love and pure emotion.

Harry is played by Con O'Neill, an outstanding actor. He excels as the frightened, yet driven man, who is essentially a good person, who has been forced into the role of vigilante avenger. He is able to convey so much tormented emotion in his facial expressions and the use of his eyes that his performance on its own would make this a 5 star film. All of the supporting actors are also excellent, one of the villains played bt Anton Saunders is skin tinglingly scary, but O'Neills performance just dwarfs all around him.

This is edge of seat stuff, with brutal violence - intentionally gratuitous, it is the messy sort and sometimes glammed up which at first I thought was strange but then as I watched this over the top violence that SOMETIMES occurred I realised that the film maker was telling us something , THIS IS EITHER A DREAM OR REAL OR BOTH, in that Harry is perhaps committing these acts and exaggerating them in his mind OR in that it is his final thoughts as he lies dying in his room in the church when he tries to commit suicide with a knife strapped to a stool.

The movie has a brooding quality that makes the whole thing have a kind of intense effervescence that just grabs you and takes you along for the ride - and that means the whole journey. I was blown away by this, small film. This is a master class in how to make a thriller. I can not recommend highly enough.

Vengeance is Mine makes it look so simple and effortless. Maybe it's because it is in fact simple and effortless. Con O'Neill the lead looks like a blend of a lawyer and an accountant and he is an inept protagonist that the film explores in all its consequences that other movies skip with an archetype that's usually hugely muscled and wielding machine guns on both arms.

It's subversive and the ending pays off with a gorgeous finale. While some would get tired of the spare and simple plot, it allows the stakes to rise in a true way and the only thing that is missing is a little more juice on all the cast of characters as the film chooses to not speak unless it really has to which I actually liked. However, the authentic leads acting wins you over where the writing is deliberately minimal.

Vengeance is Mine reminds me why I have always loved looking for more obscure and smart indie cinema.

Audiences are incredibly familiar with revenge films because it is a reoccurring common theme in movies, BUT Hadi Hajaig's Vengeance is Mine is one of those rare movies that feels unique. Vengeance is Mine stands out easily from your standard revenge flicks in various ways. First, we aren't given much of a a background (apart from some rapid flashbacks) of what is going on in the story and as the action takes place we get some hints of what happened to the main protagonist. Second, the main character played by Con O'Neill isn't your typical Hollywood hero. It's evident this dude doesn't know what he is doing and is a total scared amateur. He makes many many mistakes that sometimes it becomes a bit laugh out loud funny. It also shows us his humanity and allows us to identify and really care for him. He is incredibly different from other characters we see in this movie genre that are highly qualified for the violent task (think of Denzel Washington in The Equalizer, or Keanu Reeves in John Wick, or the Charles Bronson Death Wish films). O'Neill's Harry doesn't really know what the hell he is doing but he is ferociously determined to get his revenge. He's a normal guy who has been viciously hurt by a traumatic event in his past. The film takes its time to eventually buildup the character and his actions. It is a quiet and toned down film so when the violent scenes arrive they shock you in their brutality. It also differs from other revenge movies in that we don't see Harry get a sense of joyous satisfaction and his violent actions only complicate things more. Hajaig has managed to craft an incredibly unique revenge film which is more of a steady character study than anything else. He not only directed this film but he was also the writer, producer and editor, so this is entirely his baby.

I did not know much about this movie before going into it but I am glad I got a chance to see it because it was quite a unique jarring experience. Con O'Neill delivers an outstanding lead acting performance and he should get offered many more roles in films in the future. The film pretty much entirely revolves around his tragic character and he is practically in every scene of the film. He is what keeps us totally invested in the film during the quieter periods and the few lines he has are delivered pitch perfectly in the film.